In buildings composed of concrete walls and concrete slabs forming the floors and ceilings of rooms, it is customary to suspend drop ceilings from the existing ceiling in the rooms. The drop ceilings not only conceal the unattractive concrete surfaces of the existing ceilings but also provide a space between the existing ceilings and the drop ceilings for pipes, electrical wires, pot lights and the like.
The steps usually followed for suspending drop ceilings from existing ceilings of concrete are first to drive concrete pins into the existing ceilings leaving the heads of the pins exposed. A wire is then cut into a number of pieces of predetermined length and each length is passed through an aperture in the head of a concrete pin. Segments of the lengths of wire outside the aperture are then twisted around each other to attach them to the concrete pins and finally, the lengths of wire are fastened to the framework of the drop ceiling to hold it in place.
The wire used for this purpose must be strong enough to bear the weight of the drop ceiling and it must also be relatively inflexible to prevent the ceiling from shifting once it is installed. Because of the wire's very limited flexibility, considerable force is required to twist it and because of this, the process of twisting lengths of wire is very time consuming. For persons engaged in doing so, the process is very onerous.